Chile now ranks higher than the United States, and all of Central and South America according to the annual Index of Economic Freedom, produced by The Heritage Foundation, which has tracked economic freedom around the world for over a decade.

According to the data compiled for this year’s rankings, Chile moved to number 7 on the list, only 6 spots behind Hong Kong. In 2011, Chile was two places behind the United States at 11, and ranked at 14 in 1995, the first year of the survey (See the breakdown for Chile’s score here).

Chile also recently scored well on the annual Corruption Perceptions Index produced by Transparency International, and far exceeded the region in the rankings along with Uruguay.

Within Latin America, Uruguay is closest to Chile in terms of economic freedom, but ranks 22 spots below at 29. Brazil, which is the most populous country in Latin America, ranked 99 on the list.

Venezuela comes in last in the region, and nearly the world, at 174 of 179 ranked nations.